I know I mentioned this before, but October is one of my FAVORITE months! Halloween is a favorite holiday of ours and I am also a fan of all things zombies, so it only makes sense that I got creative with all sorts of brains and other body parts for this festive fare!

• I used a bottle of Italian dressing (roasted red pepper Italian to be exact) as the base on the plate.
• Topped the sauce with mozzarella balls – premade or make your own.  
• Top your eyeballs with thinly sliced olives. I used green olives with a pimiento pupil, but black olives would work great too!
• I think next time I’ll marinate the mozzarella balls in the dressing overnight for a more bloodshot look!

• For the main course, we have these CRAZY looking bloody hot dogs fingers.
• I used a small paring knife to make a few slices along the hot dog to resemble two knuckles.
• I simmered the hot dogs in water for about 10 minutes and then used a vegetable peeler to peel the “finger nail” for the finger. EW, right?

• A smattering of ketchup really brings the bloody fingers together on the bun.

• Make cupcakes.
• Inject cupcakes with the raspberry jam for a little surprise when you bite into it. I wish I had cut the centers out a bit more to add more jam so go ahead and do that if you want them deliciously oozy!
• Add 2 heaping tablespoons of powdered sugar to your store bought tub of vanilla frosting to stiffen it up and just a dab of red food coloring to get that pinky brainy color.  

• Frost a base layer on top of the cupcake.
• Pipe two lines down the center of each cupcake and then two rows of squiggles on each side.
• If you don’t have a piping bag and tips, you can use a zipper bag with the corner cut off. EASY!

This dinner and dessert combo was so easy to put together and so much fun to eat. My kids are aware of the zombie craze, so to ask for dessert, I made them walk like zombies and ask for “Brrraaaiinnnsssssss.” It was AWESOME! BONE Appétit my little zombie friends!

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Ingredients (based on 4 colors):

• 2 cups of popped popcorn per color
• 2 cups of sugar
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 Food Coloring
• Silver Sprinkles (optional)

Directions:

Prep your popcorn and portion into 2 cups per color

• Microwave your bags
  OR
• Pop on the stove
  OR
• Use a Popcorn Maker
  OR
• Portion out store bought

While your popcorn is a-popping:

• Add the sugar, water, vanilla, oil, and salt to a saucepan
• Bring to a simmer

Once the sugar has dissolved:

• Separate the mixture evenly into each of the 4 bowls
• Add a Food Coloring to each bowl and mix thoroughly

Add your popped popcorn to the colored syrup:

• Stir until the popcorn is completely coated
• Lay it out on a foil lined sheet pan
• Decorate with Silver Sprinkles, if desired

Repeat the process with the remaining colors

Allow the popcorn to air dry for at least 2 hours until it’s dry and crunchy

How pretty did these colors come out? Can you tell which color my kiddo liked the most? He swore up and down they tasted different. Can you believe that? The popcorn is so sweet, super crunchy, and so much fun to snack on! This super fun Rainbow Popcorn is a hit at our house. I hope you try it soon!

Notes:

• For your popcorn…it can be store bought, popped in a microwave or popped on your stove. I prefer to pop mine in a large pan on the stove!

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Flower Power of Fire Fruit Pizza

I got FIRED up by putting a fun twist on a frosted sugar cookie with this flower fruit pizza! It’s simple, delicious, and really easy to make your own!

Ingredients:

• Sugar Cookie Tube
• Cream Cheese Fruit Dip
• Strawberries (caps removed)
• Mandarin Oranges
• Green Grapes
• Blackberries

Directions:

• Roll out the sugar cookie onto a jelly roll pan.
• Bake the cookie per the directions on the package & let cool.
• Once cooled, add your fruit to create your design.
  • Strawberries as the outer oval of the flower
  • Mandarin Oranges as the inner oval of the flower
  • Vertically sliced green grapes to make the stem and leaves of the flower
  • 2 Blackberries for eyes

Notes:

• You can make your own fruit dip by whipping together 8 oz of softened cream cheese with 1 cup of marshmallow fluff.
• You could also use vanilla yogurt for a healthier option as your “sauce”.
• Wanna LEVEL UP your creativity? Then, make a Green Mushroom out of kiwi pieces and mini marshmallows!
• Wanna POWER UP your creativity? Then, make a Red Mushroom out of raspberries!
• Wanna drop a real BOMB with your creativity? Then, use blueberries to make one!

Star Power & Mystery Box Rice Krispies Treats

Ingredients:

• Rice Krispies Treats
• White Melting Wafers
• Yellow Food Coloring
• Black Glitter Glaze
• Lollipop Sticks

Directions:

• Start with a pan of cooled Rice Krispies Treats.
• Cut the Rice Krispies Treats into small squares and stars.
• Place the Lollipop Sticks into the squares and stars.
• Freeze the squares and stars for an hour.
• Melt the White Melting Wafers.
• Add in the Yellow Food Coloring and mix to blend the color throughout.
• Remove the frozen squares and stars.
• Frost the squares and stars with the melted chocolate to cover.
• Allow to cool.
• Add Black Glitter Glaze for the eyes on the stars and for the question mark on the squares.
• Serve & Enjoy!

Notes:

• I prefer our recipe for the Rice Krispies Treats, but you could easily pick one up at the store and use it instead!
• You could use Yellow Melting Wafers instead.
• After we created these, my kiddo informed me that the questions marks should have been white on the blocks and NOT black. There is a Pearl Glitter Glaze you could use instead for that…although, I think the black looks really good!

Peachy Punch for a Princess

Now we can’t have a fun after school snack party without a yummy drink. I decided to make a Peachy Punch for a Princess would be perfect! I mean…she is featured in the games, we love all things peach in our house! This 3 ingredient punch is SO YUMMY!

Ingredients:

• 1L Ginger Ale
• 4 Cans Peach Nectar
• Frozen Peaches

Directions:

• In a large pitcher, combine the Ginger Ale and Peach Nectar.
• Stir until fully mixed.
• Add frozen peaches as “ice” to your cups.
• Pour your punch into your cups.
• Serve & Enjoy!

Notes:

• Grab some Peach Candy Rings to compliment this drink!
• This could become an adult beverage with a splash of white wine or rum!

Congratulations, you beat the after school munchies! I hope you have fun creating these perfect gaming fun snacks!

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Ingredients:

• Pillsbury Family Size Brownie mix, baked as instructed. I chose the Dark Chocolate brownie mix because it is so good!
• 1/2 Cup of Pillsbury Frosting, your flavor choice. I used Cream Cheese!
• Candy Melts or Almond Bark. You can even use chocolate or white chocolate chips to coat the truffles. I used red, pink, & chocolate candy melts, plus some white almond bark.
• Valentine’s Day Sprinkles

Bake the brownies as directed and let cool completely. Scoop out the middle of the brownies into a bowl. You don’t want the crispy edges in the truffles so save them for your snack or feed them to your husband.

Mix in 1/2 a cup of frosting into the brownie crumbles. It’s a sticky mess, but it’ll come together after some stirring.

Using your hand or a cookie scoop and place the truffles on a cookie sheet covered in wax paper. I decided to play around with cake pops or truffle pops, so I stuck some lollipop sticks in some of the truffles to test it. Chill them in the freezer or fridge until firm.

Separate the candy melt colors into bowls and melt 1-2 colors at a time. It will harden back up over time so just stick it back in the microwave to remelt it. Now have some fun! I dipped the truffles in all the colors, drizzled other colors on top, and used some fun Valentine’s sprinkles. It was so messy and so fun to play around with! Are they perfect? Of course not! Will your kiddos love them? You bet they will!!

For the cake pops, I set up a baking sheet so they can harden up without getting smushed. My youngest son LOVES cake pops and lost his mind when he saw my homemade ones! It was so cute.

To fancy them up a bit, I placed the truffles in a cute mini muffin liner. How cute are these guys?! You have to try them for Valentine’s Day! Or ya know, just try them because it’s Friday.

These Brownie Truffles are AH-MAZ-ING! The frosting adds a nice creamy texture inside and the candy coating crunch. MAN OH MAN.

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